St John Fisher Catholic Primary School

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School is performing well. Inspectors found high expectations, respectful and attentive pupils, and strong early years provision, with children settling quickly into routines. Pupils achieve well, behave sensibly, and take part in a wide range of opportunities to contribute to school life and the wider community, including charitable work and sport. The curriculum is ambitious and logically sequenced, reading and phonics are strong, and pupils with SEND are supported effectively. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and staff and governors are positive about leadership and workload. The main areas for improvement concern assessment and personal development. In some subjects, teachers do not consistently check that pupils have learned the essential knowledge, and activities sometimes do not help pupils practise and consolidate learning, so some pupils develop gaps and struggle to recall and connect knowledge over time. The personal, social and health education curriculum is not sufficiently clear about fundamental British values and protected characteristics, leaving some pupils less well prepared for life in modern Britain. This was a graded inspection under the current framework, so no overall effectiveness grade was given. The school remains a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school, and there have been changes in leadership and governance since the previous inspection.

Strengths

• High expectations and strong support help pupils achieve well and develop self-belief.
• Pupils behave respectfully, are attentive in lessons and play harmoniously at social times.
• Early years children get a flying start and quickly learn routines.
• Pupils learn to be active citizens through roles such as Fisher friends, shining lights and play leaders.
• The curriculum is ambitious and logically ordered from early years to Year 6.
• Teachers use strong subject knowledge to explain ideas clearly.
• Pupils with SEND are identified well and supported effectively to learn across subjects.
• Reading and phonics are strong, with well-trained staff and effective catch-up support.
• Low-level disruption is not tolerated, and restorative approaches help pupils reflect on behaviour.
• Personal development includes strong health, mindfulness and safety education.
• Governors understand their accountability role and have developed their skills.
• Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at the school and value workload consideration.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, teachers do not always check that pupils have learned essential knowledge.
• Some activities do not help pupils practise and consolidate learning, leading to gaps in knowledge.
• Some pupils struggle to recall learning over time and connect new ideas with prior learning.
• The PSHE curriculum does not clearly define when and how pupils learn about fundamental British values and protected characteristics.
• Some pupils cannot articulate the importance of British values and protected characteristics and are not fully prepared for life in modern Britain.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St John Fisher Catholic Primary School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.5% of pupils at St John Fisher Catholic Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St John Fisher Catholic Primary School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 10.4% of pupils at St John Fisher Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St John Fisher Catholic Primary School received £6,659 and spent £7,093 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £106,000 (-£504 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Prescot · Knowsley local authority: places and applications

What is St John Fisher Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St John Fisher Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was St John Fisher Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does St John Fisher Catholic Primary School have?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School has 211 pupils on roll.

What age range does St John Fisher Catholic Primary School cover?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St John Fisher Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St John Fisher Catholic Primary School?

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School is at Tithebarn Road, Knowsley, Prescot, Merseyside, L34 0HA.